Vehicle-tire



E. STERNS.

' VEHICLE TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED AIIG.2. I9I6.

v 1,218,486. Patented Is, 1917.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII citizen of the United UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

EDWARD STERNS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO EFFICIENCY OIL CORPORA- TION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

VEHICLE-TIRE.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

To all 'whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD STERNS, a States, and residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Tires, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vehicle tires, and

- more particularly, to tires embodying a casing and an inner tube.

In vehicle tires as now constructed the casing is made sufficiently heavy to withstand the roug usage to which it is to be subjected; no attempt is, however, made to make the casing itself air tight. The inner tube itself must, however, be air tight.' Now any object, no matter how minute, which penetrates the casing willy puncturethe thin inner tube; moreover, lany crack or cut in the casing will cause the necessarily high pressure to blow a hole in the tube, quently rip open the casing. With the present type of clencher casings, pinching of the thin tube will frequently take place, thereby damaging the same. rlhe casing cannot be used to its limit of life on account of the frailty of the inner tube, and it is impractical to attach a shoe to the casing by sewing or nailing, as the presence of the seam inside of the casing will abrade the tube and in a short time puncture the same. Moreover, a fiat tire very often means the destruction ofthe casing. A vehicle is subject to side sway which will tend to rock the vehicle on the tire, thereby causing the casing to be thrown against the rim, causing rim-cutting of the casing. Of course, the present inner tube cannot act as a reinforcement to the casing, but only performs the function of an inflatable lining whichrcarries the air. The result, therefore, is that the present vehicle tire necessarily has a short life.

Various attempts have been made to provide a vehicle tire, and more particularly, an inner tube, thedurability of which will be greater than the one now in use. These attempts have, however', been unsuccessful, for the reason that the true conditions and requirements were not understood and appreciated. An elicient and `practical inner tube must possess the characteristics'of resiliency, expansibility, strength, simplicity, cheapness, lightness and durability, and should, moreover, reinforce the casing at the proper points. It must, moreover, be readily reand fremovable from and replaceable in the casing, l

to provide a tube which, while possessingv the desirable characteristics and qualifications, will be reinforced to possess great strength, and in such a manner Aas to close up any puncture which may be formed, but so as not to impair the necessary expansion.

Further objects will appear from the detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,- in which:

Figure l is a section through a vehicle tire embodying thisinvention, and showing the tire inflated; .Y

Fig.A 2 is a section similar to Fig. l, but showing the tire partially compressed;

Fig. 3 is a side inner tube; and,

Fig. l is a section on the line 1*4, Fig. 3.

In accordance with this invention the tube is constructed of an elastic material, such as rubber, which has combined therr'vith lay` ers of inelastic material, such as fabric strips, which extend circumferentially and transversely around the tube, and are disposed in axially spaced relation at the tread to confine a layer 'of elastic material therebetween. In order to provide for the necessary expansion of the tube, the layers of fabric are arranged and adapted, as by interrupting these layers at the rim, so as to permit such expansion, without, however, placing the elastic layer at the tread under tension. The tube is preferably thickened at the tread, and the layers of fabric preferably eXtend to the tire rim and past the breaking lines of the casing.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, 1 designates a wheel felly provided with a rim 2 adapted to receive a casing 3. The wheel, rim and casing may be of any suitable construction, the casing being in`this case of the clencher type.

The inner tube 7, provided with a valve stem 8 of usual construction, is, as in the application referred to, formed-of a body material of inner tube rubber, or material having the cl'iaracteristics of rubelevation of the deiated` of a suitable ber, and the wall thickness increases from V vulcanized togethe'r, or

tube is rotected therein a reinforcing material comprising,

in this case, layers of tire fabric, such as Sea Island cotton.

These layers of reinforcing material are arranged in spaced relation,

With one layer near the lnside and the other layer near the outside of the tube. In form- 'ing this tube, it can be made on a mandrel, the layers of rubber and fabric reinforcement applied successively, and the whole the tube may be formed on a tube machine. When formed, the rubber and reinforcement are joined to-f gether so as to form an integral structure.

An inner tube must, of course, be expansible so as to conform to and provide a suitable backing for the casing. Since, however, and will not, therefore, stretch any appreciable amount, it is necessary to provide some means or construction whereby the tube is permitted to expand transversely. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the layers 'of reinforcing material are arranged to provide breaks or interruptions, and these breaks or interruptions are located at the inner circumference of the tube, where the by the wheel rim. The

' result, t erefore, is that this tube can ex- ,pand at its inner circumference, at the same time leavin the sides and outer circumference rein orced and protected to the fullest extent.

The arrangement f the reinforcing lay ers in spaced relation in the body material, and the vulcanization of the body material and the reinforcement into an integral structure causes. the imprisonment or confinement of a layer of rubber between the layers of reinforcing material. Now, if a sharp instrument should penetrate the outer layer 10, or in fact, enetrate the tube wall,

then the layer of rub r imprisoned between the fabric layers will, on account of its integral attachment with the fabric layers, act to close the hole formed by the instru ment when the instrument is withdrawn, or firmly hug the instrument so closely as to prevent the escape of air. This is on account of the fact that the rubber between the layers is not stretched, but is in its original condition and maintained so for the reason that the extension or stretch comes at the inner circumference, where the gap is formed in the layers of fabric, and where the tube is protected by the wheel rim. If the rubber at the exposed tread were placed under tension, then puncturing of the tube would cause an enlargement of the hole rather than a closing thereof. In accordance with this invention, however, thevrubber between the fabric layers is neutral and will, therefore, retain its original condition during the life of the tube. The result` therefore, is that these layers of fabric the fabric reinforcement is inelastic,

, at leisure, `as

not only form a protecting armor, but also form a self-closing means for closing any hole which may be formed or produced in the wall of the tube. It will be noted that the layers of fabric 10 and 11 extend from the tire rim, that is, from points opposite the tire rim, transversely around the tread. These fabric layers, therefore, extend inwardly beyond the breaking lines of thc tube and casing, so that breaking of the tube along the lines where the fabric terminates is obviated.

It will, therefore, be 4seen that a tire is produced which is practically punctureproof, for not only is puncturing of the tube rendered exceedingly difficult, but a puncture, when formed, will be self-closing. It is, of course, only small pointed instruments, such as nails and the like, which are at all liable to penetrate this inner tube, as

both casing and tube. Such instruments will, at the most, only form gashes extending only partly into the tube, and which can, therefore, be repaired they permit the tube to be run for a considerable distance and for a considerable time without giving out. Tith all of its protective features against puncturi ing, the tube )ossesses the required resiliency and flexi ility, as special means are provided for allowing free expansion of the tube under air pressure.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of this invention, and it is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle tire, the employment of an infiatable inner tube of elastic material hav-- ing combined therewith at the tread thereof layers 'of inelastic axially spaced relation to confine the elastic lnaterial therebetween and adapted and arranged to permit transverse expansion of the tube, but prevent expansion of the confined elastic `material at the tread substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a vehicle tire, the employment'of au inflatable inner tube of elastic material having combined therewith layers of inelastic material disposed in axially spaced relation at the tread to confine the elastic material therebetween, said inelastic layers extending from the tire rim transversely around the tread, adapted to permit transverse expansion of the tube, but prevent expansion of the confined elastic material at the tread substantially as and for the purpose set forth. i

3. In a vehicle tire, the employment of an inflatable inner tube of elastic material material disposed inllS having a thickened tread and having combined therewith layers of inelastic; material disposed in axially spaced relation at the tread to confine the elastie'material therebetween, said inelastic layers extending from the tire rim transversely around the tread, adapted to permit transverse eXpansion of the tube at the rim but prevent'expension of the confined elasticl i'naterial at the tread, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a vehicle tire, the employment of an inflatable inner tubeof elastic material have ing eombined therewithv layers of inelastic material extending transversely around the tube anddisposed in axially spaced relation at the tread to confine the elasticA material therebetween, said inelastiel'ayers being interrupted at the rim and adapted to permit transverse expansion of the tube at the rim, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

5. In a vehicle tire, the employment of an inflatable inner tube of rubber increasing in thickness from the tire rim to the tread and having embedded therein fabi-ie strips eX- tending transversely around the disposed in axially spaced relation at the tread to confine the rubber therebetween,

said fabric strips, being interrupted at the rim and adaptedvto permit transverse eX- pansion of the tube at the rim, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

. In testimony whereof I affix my signature this 8th day of July, 1916.

EDWARD STERNS.'

tube and 

